Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for driving a touch panel sensing a force touch and a touch position and an electronic device including the same.
Discussion of the Related Art
Touch panels are used as input devices of various products such as televisions (TVs), notebook computers, monitors, etc., in addition to portable electronic devices such as electronic notebooks, e-books, portable multimedia players (PMPs), navigation devices, ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPCs), mobile phones, smartphones, tablet personal computers (PCs), watch phones, mobile communication terminals, etc.
Recently, as a user interface environment of applications requiring touch information about a force touch is established, electronic devices for sensing the force touch are being used.
In a related art touch panel for sensing a force touch, a force-sensing material is disposed between an upper electrode and a lower electrode, and thus, the force touch is sensed based on a distance change between the upper electrode and the lower electrode.
Generally, as a touch area is enlarged, the same force touch is not transferred to the lower electrode even when the same force is applied to the touch panel. Particularly, a touch input type of a user and a force touch angle of a user's finger can change. In this instance, as the force touch angle is reduced, a touch area is enlarged, and thus, even when the same touch force is applied to the touch panel, touch forces applied to respective unit areas differ depending on the force touch angle. In order to overcome such a limitation, a method of calculating an area touched by a soft touch to adjust touch sensitivity has been proposed. However, in the method, as a touch force increases, a touch area is enlarged even in a state where an initial touch area is small, and moreover, when a bit touch or a proximity touch is applied to the touch panel, a touched area cannot be distinguished from a touch area formed by a force touch.
For this reason, in the related art touch panel for sensing a force touch, it is difficult to accurately determine a force touch of a user. In order to solve such a problem, a complicated compensation algorithm is needed.